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Five Takeaways: Nov. 24

11/25/2017, 10:45am CST

By USHL

The Stampede and Phantoms continue to climb up their respective conference standings in a night that most teams were only separated by a single goal.

5. Something Extra

Two of the six games Friday night required overtime. Sioux City pushed Tri-City through the first sixty, but with 28 seconds remaining Charlie Dovorany scored his first game-winning goal of the year. The Duluth commit also had an assist in the game, and now sports six points in 11 games. Detroit Red Wings prospect Filip Larsson won his fourth consecutive start after stopping 30 of 32 shots. The Lincoln Stars required a shootout to top the Chicago Steel. Paul Cotter scored the only goal in the shootout, as former Steel goaltender Derek Schaedig stopped all three attempts for the Lincoln victory. Schaedig stopped 33 of 37 shots, including eight shots in the overtime period.

4. Keep Fighting

The Fighting Saints remain steady in the clogged Eastern Conference standings by picking up points in their third consecutive game. Tampa Bay Lightning prospect Cole Guttman picked up his second game-winner of the year, and now has 10 points in 14 games. Taylor Schneider and Adam Tisdale both had multi-point games. Tisdale had been held scoreless in three games after scoring a hat trick earlier this month. Goaltender Cole Weaver was not kept particularly busy in net, stopping 14 of the 15 shots he faced. The uncommitted Champlin, MN native is now 2-0-0-0 on the year, with a respectable 2.01 GAA and .902 sv%.

3. Incredible Force

Fargo remains at the top of the Western Conference, improving to 7-3-0-0 in their last 10 games after knocking off the Des Moines Buccaneers 4-3. Fargo held onto a 3-1 lead heading into the third period and Ryan Bischel earned his sixth win of the year. Ben Meyers scored twice for Fargo, while Grant Herbert and Griffin Loughran both added to their point totals to remain in the top-five for USHL scoring. Herbert is now on a three-game point streak and has goals in back-to-back games. Loughran was held of the scoresheet ahead of Thanksgiving, but now has three points in his last three games.

2. Phantom Menace

Remember the before-mentioned clogged Easter Conference? Youngstown is now sitting three points ahead of the clog after defeating the Flying Aces 4-3. The Phantoms were down 3-1 heading into the third period, but goals from Eric Esposito, Max Ellis and Tommy Parrottino completed the comeback for Youngstown. In a true team effort, 10 different players picked up points in the game while none ended with a multi-point game. Ellis now has points in six consecutive games, and sits in the top-20 for USHL scoring with 13 points in 14 games. The Notre Dame commit is now three points shy of matching his rookie season total from last year. Chicago Blackhawks prospect Wouter Peeters picked up his second consecutive win in net after stopping 29 of 32 shots.

1. Herd That

Sioux Falls continues to pick up points, this time with a win, and continues to climb up the Western Conference standings. The Stampede are 5-2-2-1 in their last 10 games and have points in seven consecutive games (4-0-2-1). Sioux Falls boasted six different players with multi-point games: Khristian Acosta (1G, 2A), Matt Quercia (1G, 1A), Mitchell Mattson (1G, 1A), Jaxon Nelson (1G, 1A), Kevin Conley (0G, 2A) and AJ Villella (0G, 2A). Goaltender Jaxson Stauber earned his first career USHL win in net after stopping 37 of 40 shots. The Minnesota State commit has faced 40 shots or more in two of his four starts this season. Sioux Falls is now sitting in third in the Western Conference with 21 points in 17 games.

Headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, the USHL celebrates its 16th season as the nation's only Tier I junior hockey league in 2017-18. 30 or more players from the USHL have been selected in five consecutive NHL Drafts, and more than 400 players on team rosters last season committed to NCAA Division I schools, further establishing the USHL as the world’s foremost producer of junior hockey talent.